GACO hosted an event on “Blockchain and Financial Crime Prevention - Risks and Opportunities” on the 17th October 2018. Featuring international speakers from a multitude of backgrounds with experience in this new industry, the event discussed law, regulation and technology in this minefield. It aimed to help delegates understand the basics of this new technology and the opportunities that may be available, through it. The event was attended by over 125 delegates.

Understanding how blockchain creates business value is essential for companies to identify the right use cases and move beyond small pilots to widespread adoption.

In this episode of the McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey partners Brant Carson and Matt Higginson speak with Simon London not only about how companies can drive business value through blockchain—but also how business leaders can determine when blockchain is and isn’t the right innovation.

Please kindly see the below information received via the Finance Centre regarding an event organised and promoted by the Ministry of Equality with the very interesting topic of Gender Diversity & Inclusion - Training on Unconscious Bias.

According the FATF National Money Laundering and Terrorist Finance Risk Assessment guide: "Identifying, assessing, and understanding ML/TF risks is an essential part of the implementation and development of a national anti-money laundering / countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, which includes laws, regulations, enforcement and other measures to mitigate ML/TF risks. It assists in the prioritisation and efficient allocation of resources by authorities.

GACO and C6 wish to welcome you to a Breakfast Seminar on the importance of having adequate Source of Wealth Due Diligence and to fully understand Ultimate Beneficial Ownership of clients and third parties in order to keep your organisation clear of sanction violations.

Nick Parfitt, Head of Market Planning C6 will discuss how you can avoid being exposed to sanction violations by properly assessing Ultimate Beneficial Ownership of clients and third parties; how fully unwrapping corporate structures will help your company expose compliance risks buried within the ownership structure of a company; and will demonstrate how a proper Source of Wealth Assessment goes beyond simply identifying the assets owned.

HM Government of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Finance will be hosting two “Gibraltar Day in Tel Aviv” events on Tuesday 9th and Wednesday 10th October 2018. The events will take place at the prestigious Crowne Plaza Azrieli Centre Hotel, in the heart of Tel Aviv’s business district.

The confirmed events are:

A. Tuesday 9th October: An evening cocktail reception, hosted by Albert Isola, Minister for Commerce, will be held between 19:00 and 21:00. The cocktail reception is focused on senior management and executives from the Israeli finance sector.

GACO is delighted to invite you to this practical workshop. Addressing key issues on technology, law, regulation, internal controls and criminal typologies, the programme aims to help get delegates beneath the high fence of tech-jargon and incomprehensible blockchain diagrams, so as to truly understand the basic principles of this break-through technology, how it works, what it can be used for and what the implications are - now and in the future - for the working roles which they perform.

A scenario in which the UK leaves the EU without agreement (a ‘no deal’ scenario) remains unlikely given the mutual interests of the UK and the EU in securing a negotiated outcome.

Negotiations are progressing well and both we and the EU continue to work hard to seek a positive deal. However, it’s our duty as a responsible government to prepare for all eventualities, including ‘no deal’, until we can be certain of the outcome of those negotiations.